Why The Dolphins Were Stupid In Loss To Patriots

BOSTON (CBS) — The Patriots had a few bouts of stupidity themselves on Sunday against the Dolphins, but it still shows the gap between the two teams that the Pats still won by 18 points.

Listen above as 98.5 The Sports Hub’s Zolak & Bertrand go over why the Dolphins were stupid in their 35-17 loss to the Patriots at Gillette Stadium. There are plenty of examples – allowing a first down on a fake punt, throwing punches among them – but the guys focus squarely on the Dolphins’ “special” clock management at the end of the first half when they had a chance to get back into the game. It was a microcosm of the team’s stupid performance throughout the day.

With the Patriots up 21-10 and 2:30 left in the second quarter, Miami drove down the field with a great chance to make it a one-possession game. But things went haywire for the ‘Fins when they got to around a minute left.

For whatever reason, head coach Adam Gase kept running the ball without taking a timeout, and finally did with about 38 seconds left. Dolphins QB Matt Moore promptly took a sack on the next play, forcing their second timeout, but they picked up a first down on the next play.

It was too little too late for the Dolphins at that point. Forced to take shots at the end zone with under 20 seconds left, Moore heaved an absolute duck into to the end zone that Stephon Gilmore easily intercepted to keep the Patriots’ lead at 11 points at halftime.

Clearly, Gase was over-thinking his clock management in his attempts to keep the football away from Tom Brady before the end of the half. The Dolphins “crapped their pants” in that moment, as Scott Zolak put it so bluntly.